Time travel via Old Toronto limited by area—so far

Archived historical photos vary in quantity across city neighbourhoods

Photo illustration using Sidewalk Labs MapsMISSING HISTORY: Old photos are sparse in Leaside area of Old Toronto map.

There are supposed be 30,000 views of Toronto’s past available on Google’s Old Toronto map, launched last month by Sidewalk Labs at oldtoronto.sidewalklabs.com.

But most of the photos, provided by the City of Toronto Archives, are congregated in the downtown and midtown core.

With a few exceptions, suburban neighbourhoods are sparsely represented. Even the centrally located Leaside area is relatively clear of the blue dots that can be clicked on to bring up one or multiple photos.

The east end, including East York, Riverdale, Leslieville and the Beaches, are appropriately somewhere in-between — with fewer sites than in the downtown core but with blue dots much denser than in the further out suburbs of Scarborough and North York.

Still, clicking through the map and expanding the selection at each site can be an exhilarating trip through time for the history geek.

And Street Labs says it is adding more photos in the near future.

Photo illustration using Sidewalk Labs MapsBLUE STATE: East York and Beaches are well represented by archival photos in Old Toronto map.